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Archived Newsletters

2006

Lesson Lab 1
Learning Your File Extensions

File Extensions. What are they and what do they mean?
For this lesson we are going to discuss the three predominant file types Oxygen uses for their images. Each file has a specific purpose and it is a good idea to understand a little bit about each extension and where is can be used.

What is a file extension?
File Extensions or suffixes are the tag at the end of a file. Here are some basic file extensions you may have seen .PDF, .PUB, .WAV, .GIF. Different software applications use the extensions to determine if the file can be used within that program.

The big three

JPEG Files: "Joint Photographic Experts Group." (Not that you will need to know that) is the best choice to use with photographs on the Web or in over head presentations. This file type is supported fairly universally and can be applied into programs like MS Word, publisher or PowerPoint, as well as other programs like Adobe Photoshop or Paint.

PNG Files: "Portable Network Graphic" files are used for our soft edge graphics. These soft edge graphics require a special transparency technique that is best suited with this file extension. This file type should work anywhere that a JPEG or GIF file works, and can be used to insert watermarks over your PowerPoint templates.

POT Files: PowerPoint presentation template files. These files are already configured for PowerPoint and can be opened by simply right clicking on the file and choosing the open with PowerPoint option.

The .POT file will be the file type we are addressing the most in beginning articles. These files are the way we “oxygenate” our product so that it is faster and easier to use than other competitive products.

Hopefully these explanations will help you to better understand your media ministry and what different files can be used for. Check back next month when we will discuss using Oxygen with PowerPoint.